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When it comes to business-networking, for everything from brand positioning to cultivating a personal contact list, there can be no connection without some level of trust. But that trust cannot be established in moments between conference seminars, first-time emails to contacts of your colleagues or even bouts of volunteer coaching for your kids’ sports teams. These are all avenues to briefly hint at the potentially mutually beneficial product of the union of two players in the same game.

The trust part requires a more relaxed setting, calmer nerves, fewer distractions and perhaps a cocktail or two to deconstruct in-place barriers. Dimmer lights, closer talks, informal banter, perhaps the undoing of a couple of shirt-buttons— No, this isn’t a date, it’s networking and it starts with libations.

In the market and in the public eye, few industries are more exciting than the tech sphere and – though cities like Austin, New York and Seattle are making a name for themselves in that space – San Francisco and Silicon Valley represent the heart of the space.

Event management company, Schmoozed, made a list several months ago of the best rooftop bars in San Francisco for networking. The list included 620 Jones(620 Jones St.), Medjool(2522 Mission St.), The View(55 4th St.), Sens Restaurant(4 Embarcadero Ctr.) and The Water Bar (399 Embarcadero South).

Our own Forbes travel guide found Boulevard(1 Mission St.) to be a business-networking destination of note. The saloon-style establishment has hosted famous faces, political figures and now tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

Entrepreneur.com cited Elixir(3200 16th St.) as the best bar to get business and entrepreneurial gossip from a bartender – Nightclub and Bar magazine’s 2010 “Bartender of the Year,” H. Joseph Ehrmann.

New York:

Last month a report by CBS was released citing New York’s 4 Best Bars for Business Drinks. The list included Pegu Club(77 West Houston St.), the art-deco-themed Empire Room(350 5th Ave.), the tech-centric Tom & Jerry’s(288 Elizabeth St.) and The Ace Hotel Lobby Bar, which offers the Stumptown Coffee Roasters – a serious coffee bar – for those who worship the caffeine-bean.

Boston:

According to the report by Entrepreneur.com, Boston’s Eastern Standard Kitchen and Drinks(528 Commonwealth Ave.) is an ideal spot to rent space for a business get-together, offering Wi-Fi and a boardroom-type environment. Another option could be the Union Oyster House(41 Union St.) which claims to be America’s oldest restaurant. This historic landmark was known to be a hangout of John F. Kennedy.

Chicago

According to a roundup by Business Insider, Chicago’s list of ideal spots for business gatherings includes The Purple Pig(500 N. Michigan Ave.), as well as Gibson’s Bar & Steakhouse(1028 N. Rush St.) and the James Beard Award nominated Blackbird (619 W. Randolph), among others.

Los Angeles:

In the undisputed capital of film and entertainment, Forbes’ own travel guide lists The Polo Lounge as one of the greatest spots in the U.S. to have a business lunch. Located within the Beverly Hills Hotel on Sunset Blvd., the spot has been known to play host to Hollywood players such as Sherry Lansing, Conan O’Brien and Mark Wahlberg.

Business Insider also tracked down a few suggestions for business and networking affairs, including The Grill on the Alley(9560 Dayton Way),The Ivy(113 N. Robertson Blvd.) as well as the western outpost of the New York icon, Barney Greengrass(9570 Wilshire Blvd.).

If you can think of any bars or restaurants that offer what you feel is the perfect environment for networking or business tête à têtes, feel free to comment and add to the list.